Boot with stretchable leg section



y 1950 H. L'HOLLIER ETAL 2,507,726

BOOT wrm STRETCHABLE LEG SECTION Filed Dec. 3, 1947 .Jzzfifaas 5571? H-L HUI/Isa Nelson E'ibusZgg E W wi Patented May 16, 1950 BOOT WITH STRETCHABLE LEG SECTION Leslie H. LHollier, Newton, and Nelson E. Tousley, Waban, Mass... assignors to The B. F. Goodrich Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application December 3, 1947, Serial No. 789,460

5 Claims. (Cl. 36-4) It is an object of this invention to provide additional extensibility to the leg section of a rubber boot or other article of footwear. It is a further object to construct a boot with a sole and an upper constructed of vulcanized rubber and with a lining of a stretchable fabric, the rubber upper having portions cut away exposing the flexible lining. It is a further object to provide a waterproof and elastic covering for the exposed sections of the fabric lining which appear through the cutaway portions of the rubber upper. Other objects will be apparent from the description which follows.

The invention can he more easily understood by referring to the accompanying drawings which illustrate a method of making a rubber boot with expansible sections in the sides of the upper.

Fig. l is a side view of the elastic fabric lining on a last, the lining being covered with a stencil.

Fig. 2 is a side view showing the elastic lining, the last, the stencil; and a coating of sprayed latex particles.

Fig. 3 is a side view of the finished boot.

Fig. 4 is a cross section on line l-l of Fig. 3.

The boot of this invention was made as follows:

Referring to the drawings, the fabric lining I l was placed over last l3 and coated with an adhesive rubber composition, and then stencil I2 was placed around the lining as shown in Fig. 1. Discrete particles H of a vulcanizable rubber latex were then sprayed on that portion of the, fabric lining H showing through the stencil l2. The stencil I2 was then removed. A relatively stiff rubber shell l9 was fabricated independently of the lining and comprised an upper IS, a sole IS, a toe reinforcing member l1, and a counterreinforcing member l8. After parts of th upper leg section were cut away as shown in Fig. 4, the shell l9 was pulled over the lining H and adhesively engaged to the lining by the adhesive rubber composition. The holes cut in the rubber shell l9 and the latex sprayed portion of the lining H were aligned one complementary to the other to produce easily deformed portions in the upper leg section. Fig. 4 shows the lining II, the last I3, the latex particles 14, and the rubber upper 15. After the parts were so aligned the boot was vulcanized. The portions Of the lining which were sprayed with discrete particles of latex and were exposed by the cutaway sections of the rubber shell were more easily stretched than the portions of the lining which were directly adhered to the rubber shell. The exposed portions of lining after being coated with an adhesive rubber composition and sprayed with die- 2 crete rubber particles were waterproof, stretchable, elastic, and attractive in appearance.

This invention may be used in the manufacture of any article of footwear which is fabricated of a natural or synthetic vulcanizable rubber and fabric and in which there is a need for highly elastic and stretchable portions for ease of insertion and removal of the foot of the wearer, or for wearing comfort.

The adhesive composition may be any cement such as those made from rubber, synthetic rubber, latex, and the like. Other non-rubber cements may be used, but since these cements are generally not vulcanizable they give less satisfactory bonds between the fabric lining and the vulcanized rubber.

The vulcanizable latex particles may be of the same color as that used for the rubber shell or a contrasting color may be'used for added beauty. The latex may be sprayed on an adhesive rubber composition upon which is enough coagulant to coagulate a substantial portion of the latex particles or the latex spray may be mixed with a coagulant spray to form discrete rubber coagula; the latter method was used in the preferred example. Any vulcanizable natural or synthetic rubber may be employed in latex form.

Although th invention has been described in detail with reference to a preferred embodiment, it is obvious that numerous modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. For instance, portions of latexsprayed fabric lining may appear at any point on the article of footwear. In addition modifications may be made in the adhesive used and in, the manner in which the latex is sprayed.

We claim: a

1. A rubber boot adapted for easy pull-on and removal by the wearer which comprises a full lining of a readily stretchable, elastic fabric and a rubber shell, said rubber shell having cutaway sections under which appears said lining covered with discrete particles of a rubber, said lining covered with discrete particles of rubberbeing more readily stretchable than the lining covered with said rubber shell.

2. A rubber boot adapted for easy insertion and removal of the wearer's foot comprising a readily stretchable elastic fabric lining and an outer rubber shell, the said rubber shell having cutaway portions at th sides of the upper, under which appears said fabric lining covered with discrete particles of a rubber, said lining covered with discrete particles of a rubber being more readily stretchable than the lining covered with said rubber shell.

3. A boot of rubber and fabric construction having a readily-stretchable elastic section comprising a readily stretchable, elastic fabric covered with discrete particles of a rubber and a section comprising said elastic lining and a rubber shell, this latter section being less easily distended than said readily-stretchable elastic section.

4. A boot comprising a full lining of a readily stretchable, elastic fabric and a rubber shell, said boot having readily stretchable leg sections which are more easily distended than the remainder of said boot and comprising said elastic fabric lining and a coating of discrete rubber particles.

5. An article of footwear comprising a relatively stiff outer shell and an elastic stretchable fabric lining, said shell having at least one openin: in the wall thereof exposing the underlying elastic fabric lining, and a coating of discrete particles of a rubber on the outer face of said fabric at said opening, the portion of said article of footwear underlying said opening being of greater stretchability than the remainder of said article.

LESLIE H. LHOLL'IER. NELSON E. TOUSLEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 18,058 Bradley May 5, 1931 508,619 Hurd Nov. 4, 1893 1,617,706 F'lewitt Feb. 15, 1927 1,969,962 Bodle Aug. 14, 1934 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 385,138 Great Britain Dec. 22, 1932 

